WINTER IN RURAL SOUTHWEST ALABAMA

Well, at long last –winter has arrived. It is as cold here today as it is in Vermont. After sitting on the porch in December and reading my Christmas cards. Today, I am stoking the fireplace and sitting by the heater. There is just one catch – I am having a family party tonight and the pipes are frozen. There is no water. Thank goodness that I did my washing yesterday. I think clean underwear is important when you are giving a party. I did some other chores yesterday that will make me be able to go ahead with the party as planned. I soaked the beans for my 15 bean soup. In fact, I found out about the water being frozen when I started to put more water on the beans to cook. Fortunately, I am well provisioned in my pantry. I found 2 cans of chicken broth and one of tomato sauce that I used instead. It may be the best bean soup I ever made!

My menu is a choice of 15 Bean Soup with Conecuh Sausage or Potato Soup with Ham served with cornbread as the main course. Appetizers are Mexican Cheese Dip with Hamburger served with corn chips plus the wonderful okra chips from Fresh Market and Homemade Party Mix on the side. Dessert is a Chocolate Fondue with pound cake, flavored marshmallows and leftover Christmas cookies. Everything is hot and heavy. It will be in the teens tonight. We will drink wine and hot Fruit Punch. I’m calling this the Last Christmas Party. I wanted to do the party on Jan 6 because that is the last day of Christmas, but Wednesday night is church night in the rural south, so I made it one day sooner.

I spent the whole Christmas Holiday traveling, so I didn’t have a Christmas Party. I wanted to have a few people in before I HAD to take down my tree. My house has lots of red and green all year, but at Christmas, I add lots of velvet and sparkle. I wanted to give Christmas one last whirl. Tonight is it. I don’t care if I don’t have water. I just won’t tell anybody until they get here. It is really an adventure to plan a party without running water. We in rural Southwest Alabama have a pioneer spirit. Many of our parents didn’t get electricity until they were grown. My granddaddy had a battery powered radio to listen to the Grand Ole Oprey on, so all the neighbors came to his house on Saturday night to listen. He entertained without amenities and so can I.

I do know how to build a glorious fire in the fireplace. I learned by trial and error, with an often smoked up living room until I got the hang of it. Now I can build a blazing fire almost every time. The only catch to a roaring fire in the fireplace is that mine is in a wood burning heater in the living room. My house has 4 fireplaces, but when the second story was added to the house, the chimneys were knocked down to make way for progress. After I moved in, a hearth and wood heater were added. The reason that it was a heater and not a fireplace was because my roof is so steep, that the only place we could put a functional chimney was between the two front living room windows. It was narrow and would accommodate only a wood heater. Fortunately, we found one with a wide opening so we can see and enjoy the fire. Often in old houses, the placement of things seems funny. Usually there is a functional reason why. Just like the case of the party with no water, we just make do with what we have, take it in stride and move on. Happy New Year!